Chapter 1:
Hawk stood in silence, hidden in the trees, watching her approach. At first he had thought her a figment of his imagination. The woman who had haunted his dreams was crossing the valley beneath him, making her way steadily toward the Eco camp. Could she be real? The last time they had spoken he had asked her to make a terrible choice. He had told her that if she left there would be no returning again. And yet here she was.
The sound of a baby crying wafted up to him in the cool, clear mountain air, making his vision more solid, more real. It was no dream, it was Amber.
Should he go down to meet her? No. He couldn't. She was not welcome with the Eco's anymore. She was a mallrat, a city dweller. He could no longer deny that. She had stopped being his Eagle long ago. It had taken Pride's death to make Hawk realize how much he hated the city and all it stood for, all Amber stood for.
He should have moved the camp. But he simply hadn't had the heart. After Salene had shown up with Mouse, he had realized that perhaps there were others like her, displaced, lonely, desperate children who needed the Eco's. And so they had stayed. And as always there were travelers, refugees, nomadic tribes who found them, stayed with them and became a part of the Tribe. The Eco's had grown since Amber's last visit. But Amber would not be welcome. Amber couldn't stay with them. She would always be drawn back to the city, back to her dream, and he would always be left behind.
As he watched she stumbled over a rock in her path. Hawk instinctively took a step toward her. A hand grasped his upper arm and held him back in the shadows. Quickly he turned and met a pair of largegreen eyes.
"Rain," he said softly yet urgently, "What are you doing so far from the camp?"
"Following you," she answered.
"I've been sitting here for hours." Hawk said disbelievingly.
"I know," she replied, "I've been sitting over there on that rock. I thought you'd never move. It seemed like you were in some kind of trance or something."
Hawk gave her an incredulous look.
"So who is she?" Rain asked.
Hawk turned again to look down at the small figure crossing the valley below him. Without looking back at Rain he replied, "Its Amber, the Mallrat."
